Audi's crossovers and Golf family boost VW group

U.S. sales of the Golf SportWagen led all Golf variants with 2,602 units while the mainstream Golf compact hatchback and sporty GTI added more than 1,700 units each in July.

Surging crossover demand propelled Audi to another monthly U.S. sales record while the Golf lineup continued to stoke demand at the Volkswagen brand in July.

Sales of the Audi Q5 compact CUV jumped 47 percent, and the midsize Q7 rose 34 percent last month. The Q3 subcompact crossover, not on sale in July 2014, added another 1,166 units to Audi’s monthly tally of 17,654 vehicles, a 21 percent gain and the luxury brand’s 55th straight monthly U.S. sales record.

“The showroom traffic that our dealers saw in July indicates that demand across the Audi product lineup is hotter than ever,” Audi of America COO Mark Del Rosso said in a statement. “We are confident that the Audi momentum will continue into the autumn selling season with the release of the entire model-year 2016 portfolio and the upcoming launches of the all-new TT and the first plug-in Audi, the A3 Sportback e-tron.”

Underscoring the broader consumer shift towards crossovers, the Q5 is galloping ahead as Audi’s top-selling nameplate, outselling the second-place A4 sedan by more than 1,500 units in July.

Meanwhile, the Golf lineup continued to carry sister brand Volkswagen’s U.S. sales last month to their third straight monthly increase.

Sales of the Golf SportWagen led all Golf variants with 2,602 units while the mainstream Golf compact hatchback and sporty GTI added more than 1,700 units each. Combined Golf sales, including the high-performance Golf R and electric e-Golf totaled 6,717, more than double levels seen in July 2014.

Steady Jetta compact car sales and double-digit gains posted by the Tiguan compact and Touareg upscale CUVs, helped make up for plummeting Passat midsize sedan sales that fell by 20 percent last month.

Overall, Volkswagen posted a 2.4 percent gain to 31,300 units in July. Through seven months, VW brand sales were down by 1.9 percent.